Support

(Last updated 12 January 2019)

Latest updates: ND53, SH59

Updating the SIAM Windows Menu

When each new simulation is released we produce a new version of our Windows menu to include it. This new menu is included with older simulations only when they are modified. So, for example, if you install an older simulation after installing Yarnton Junction, the Yarnton Junction simulation will have disappeared from the menu. As a simple fix, we are now providing as a separate download just the latest Windows menu; you can download it here.

Running our older DOS-based programs with Windows

We have brought together on a single new page all the information about running our older non-Windows simulations with any version of Windows from XP onwards. Unless you are running a very old PC, please check there first before ordering any non-Windows simulation.

This applies particularly if you are having trouble with graphics or sound with any of our simulations when using Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8.

Problems

If you have a problem with any of our simulations, particularly the new ones, the quickest way to resolve them is to email details to us at support@siam.co.uk. Please say if you can accept a replacement as a zipped .exe or .msi file, as that’s the quickest way for us to help you. If possible please attach a saved game position from which we can reproduce the problem; because text files can get corrupted in email transmission, it’s best to zip saved files.

Fixes

We are providing for downloading from this site corrected versions of some recent simulations. We hope this will particularly help customers who experience difficulties with early versions. The downloads will be zipped files from a password-protected area on this site, and in each case the password is a word from one of the screens of the relevant simulation.

If you don’t have a suitable unzip program such as WinZip or ZipMagic, WinZip can be downloaded from the WinZip web site at www.winzip.com or is on most computer magazine cover disks.

To find details of known errors and fixes, click on the simulation program name in the list on the left. To avoid clutter, fixes will be removed from the web site after a year or so.

Problems on fast machines

If you run on anything except a very old machine any of our simulations dated earlier than 27 November 1997, you will find that they fail with a runtime error 200 (or, if they are very old, run at lightning speed!). This is due to a problem in a timing routine within the Borland Pascal library. If you encounter this problem, please ask for free updates. All the sample programs are now available on this site in updated versions to fix this speed problem.